A POLICE officer from Northwich has gone on trial accused of conspiring to pervert the course of justice and misconduct after she allegedly tried to cover up a colleague's drink-driving.

Jennifer Adderley, 33, of Chester Road, Northwich, is charged alongside David Hall, of Macclesfield, after she allegedly failed to breath-test him and then asked other officers to lie and say he had been ill. Hall and Adderley both deny the charges.

Adderley stopped Hall in his car in October 2002 when he had been out drinking with friends, a court heard.

'Jennifer Adderley was on duty in Macclesfield in a marked police dog van,' said Mark Ainsworth, prosecuting. 'She heard a man had been reported, driving a white VW Golf.'

The court heard PC Adderley pulled the Golf over and reported that she had done so. PCs Daniel Gorman and Michelle Armitt, who were on patrol, arrived shortly after.

'When PC Gorman and PC Armitt arrived, they found the VW Golf parked in a lay-by,' said Mr Ainsworth. 'PC Adderley was out of her van and was talking to David Hall. After a few minutes, PC Adderley walked over to the two officers and spoke to them in their car.

She said she would move and secure his car and asked the two officers to give Hall and his passenger a lift home.

''If anyone asked, we will say he was ill,' she told them,' added Mr Ainsworth.

Three days later, Mr Ainsworth told the court, Adderley had a conversation with PCs Gorman and Armitt and told them again that they should say Hall was unwell.

'The matter came to the attention of the authorities and an investigation was carried out,' said Mr Ainsworth.

In interview, both Adderley and Hall said Hall had been unwell and that procedure was followed.

But Mr Ainsworth said: 'It was Jennifer Adderley's duty... to carry out a proper and thorough investigation as to whether David Hall had committed an offence. It was her duty to carry out the straightforward duty of a road side breath-test.

'It was not because she did not have the equipment - the reason was because she decided not to. It was a decision willfully taken on her part.' The trial, at Chester Crown Court, continues.